Winter is known as the month of beautiful, white blanket snow lawns for many Americans. However, winter looks quite a bit different in Austin. Austinites are lucky enough to enjoy temperate winters where they can spend time enjoying the outdoors by hiking the abundant forest trails, exploring the many city attractions, and enjoying a glass of Austonian Whiskey on the patio in the evenings.

It’s for this reason that Austin is such a memorable place to visit during the winter for many Americans and tourists. The only downside? While the snow-states get to enjoy lawn curbs covered in the beautiful snow, Austinites face the challenge of maintaining attractive and healthy curb appeal as all color begins to fade for the cold season.

Without adequate preparation and regular maintenance, your curb may fall victim to the bland, bleak and dreary brown landscape that covers the rest of Austin. If you want to increase your lawn curb appeal this season and maintain a healthy lawn for the upcoming spring, you’re in the right place. In this blog, we at South Austin Irrigation share our best tips to increase your lawn curb appeal this winter.

Start With Your Lawn

The first thing that people will notice about your curbside when passing by is your lawn. Lawns, in particular, suffer during winter, as low temperatures cause frost buildup overnight, against which the grass will drop into a dormant state, leaving behind a grayed-out and crunchy carpet that waits eagerly to be revitalized in spring.

One of the most important things to do during the fall and winter months is consistently keeping your lawn free of debris. If you are not disciplined about raking or blowing leaves off the lawn, not only will it look very messy and unappealing, but it will also cause the grass underneath to die when the seasons change. Grass needs sunshine and fresh air, so if you trap the grass under a bed of mulchy and decaying leaves, you may end up with a dead patch. To avoid this, simply keep the grass clear. Generally speaking, raking and maintaining stray leaves is always a great way to increase your lawn curb appeal.

Be sure to remove weeds during this period as well. If left unchecked, these weeds can completely choke out sections of the grass and leave you with a severely compromised lawn when spring rolls back around.

It might also be a good idea to fertilize the lawn during this period and to scarify the lawn towards the end of winter so that it can grow back with renewed vigor in the spring.

Using Complementary Plants

A lawn on its own ‒ even if it is a green and lush lawn ‒ can be pretty boring and uninspiring without a complement of well-chosen and manicured plants to surround it and bring it to life. After all, a decent lawn is just the canvas, or the starting point, on which a well-crafted landscape can be unleashed.

During winter, the lush blooms and green leaves of many flowers, shrubs and trees will disappear, leaving your garden looking like a landscape of sticks. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to choose a variety of evergreen shrubs and trees to keep your landscape looking appealing during the bleak midwinter when all the other trees are bare. If you need some recommendations on which evergreens grow well in Austin, check out this resource.

Maintain Your Irrigation System

It’s important to note that your lawn should still be irrigated this winter. Here in Austin, we experience less rainfall during winter, so it’s up to you to make sure your lawn is adequately watered. However, you also need to ensure that you don’t overwater and kill the grass. Using and maintaining an irrigation system is a great way to ensure your watering efforts remain balanced.

It’s important that you adequately prepare for the winter ahead when it comes to irrigation system maintenance. Some things to consider include:

• Pipe protection: Are your pipes insulated well enough to withstand the cold temperatures? If they’re buried 8-12 inches below the ground, then they are likely well protected. However, if your pipes are exposed, consider insulating them. 
• Valves: Check on your isolation valve to ensure that it’s freeze-proof. If you notice that the box lid is open, any pieces are missing or broken, then sort this out before winter arrives to prevent an inconvenient, headache-inducing experience. If your valve is above-ground, make sure it’s well insulated.
• Above-ground backflow prevention assemblies, controllers and sensors: Ensure that your above-ground backflow prevention assemblies, controllers and sensors are all in working order and well-maintained before the cold season begins. This may sound like quite the task, but trust us when we say that prevention is far better than a cure. 

If you want to learn more about how to maintain your irrigation system for the winter, be sure to check out our blog where we cover this topic at-length.

South Austin Irrigation specializes in sprinkler and irrigation system repairs:

• Consultation
• Main and Lateral Line Repairs
• Pop-up and Rotor Replacement
• Broken PVC and Copper Pipe Repairs
• Electrical Troubleshooting
• System Leaks
• Backflow Replacement and Installation
• Valve Locating Repair and Replacement
• Reroutes for Mature Trees and Patio Additions
• Controller Replacement and Upgrades
• Water Conservation by System Upgrade
• Custom Scheduling
• Lawn Irrigation System Adjustments
• Sprinkler Head Replacement
• Underground Sprinkler Weatherization
• Unclog and Adjust Heads and Nozzles

Austionians, make sure you maintain an appealing lawn curb this winter by speaking with our experts at South Austin Irrigation. We’ll advise you on the best way to do just that with our professional irrigation maintenance and repair services. Contact us today!